Chapter Twenty-One
The Ginny Factor

Updated 9/29/2012

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Monroe wanted to know.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know if we need to do anything," he replied, casually. "You can't get into the Room of Requirement unless you know exactly what someone who's already inside needed. I would defy anyone to guess that we've summoned the essences of the four Founders to teach us pre-Interdict spell magic."

Monroe nodded ruefully; Harry had a point. "But that means we're stuck in here until they go away," he also pointed out. "All Malfoy has to do is rotate his Aurors to guard the entrance until we have to leave."

"Why would we have to leave?" Harry asked, in a bland tone.

"Well, because —" Monroe stopped and smiled. "You're right, we don't." The pre-Interdict spells and rituals they'd learned would allow them to stay here almost indefinitely. They could summon food, water, and most importantly, more books with pre-Interdict spells in them, and have the Founders read them to Harry and him. And now, with their newly-Memory Enhanced minds, they would remember every single spell, ritual, and potion recipe they learned. "So what do we do next?" he asked.

Harry thought for a while. "I don't know at the moment," he finally said. "Let me think about it a bit."

=ooo=

Revealment spells cast toward the wall where the Room of Requirement was supposed to appear showed nothing and no one beyond it, even though this was the last known location of James Monroe.

"Is there any way we can find out who's in there?" Malfoy asked Neville.

"Other than having them tell us, or figuring out exactly what they're using the room for, I doubt it," Neville replied.

"We could break through," Crabbe suggested.

Both Neville and Malfoy shook their heads. "I can't authorize that," Draco said.

"And I wouldn't allow it," Neville said, in a stern voice. Malfoy gave him an amused look but didn't argue the point. He turned to the other Aurors. "Suggestions, gentlemen?"

The Aurors shook their heads. "Headmaster?" Malfoy turned to Neville once again. "Anything you can think of? What about that magical security system, can it tell us who's inside?"

"No, I've already told you so," Neville answered, annoyed. "It can tell us everyone who's on school grounds, but the Weasleys could never make it work for the Room of Requirement. It can't see inside there at all."

Draco could see a way around that limitation, however. "It can tell us everyone who's entered Hogwarts but hasn't left," he pointed out.

Neville blinked. "Of course," he nodded. "Security," he said. "Tell us everyone who has entered Hogwarts and has not left yet."

"Vincent Crabbe," the cool voice recited. "Gregory Goyle, Draco Malfoy, James Monroe, Harry Potter —"

"Stop!" Draco called out, and Neville echoed the order, stopping the recitation. "That's interesting," he smirked. "Potter came back, apparently. Find out when he returned," he told Neville, who repeated the question.

"Harry Potter entered Hogwarts at twelve-fifteen a.m. this morning," the Security voice replied.

"Why didn't you tell me he'd returned when I asked you earlier?" Neville demanded.

"Your question about Harry Potter's arrivals and departures from Hogwarts referred to yesterday, not today," the cool voice replied. Neville snorted annoyance, shaking his head.

"So Potter and Monroe are in there," Malfoy pondered, staring at the blank wall. "But we can't make them come out and we can't get inside unless we know what they're using the Room for. That's a pretty problem."

"Sure we can't just bust in?" Crabbe muttered.

"No," Neville said. "You're not destroying the Room of Requirement —"

"Not if we can help it," Malfoy finished. "But if they're doing something in there that might compromise the Interdict of Merlin —"

"And what do you think something like that would take?" Neville interrupted in turn. "Wizards have been studying the Interdict for 800 years now; its scope has expanded from Britain to nearly the entire world — only the most remote, inaccessible reaches of the earth have not been touched by it. Since it has a limiting effect on the ability to communicate magical knowledge except from one mind to another, it is likely to remain in place forever."

"You don't know that," Malfoy objected.

"You're the one that was with Harry when he figured all that out, back in our first year!" Neville countered. "Magical knowledge is being limited and lost over time! If you destroyed the Room of Requirement, for example, it's likely it could never be restored again — that's why you're not going to break into it!"

"I'm going to do what I have to, to bring Potter in!" Malfoy shouted back. "And he's going to find that out, right now!" He stepped close to the wall, then brought his wand up to his throat and cast Sonorus. He spoke, his amplified voice ringing throughout the corridor. "Attention, occupants of the Room of Requirement. This is Head Auror Malfoy of the Ministry of Magic. You are hereby ordered to come out immediately."

There was no response, but Malfoy hadn't really expected on. "If you do not comply immediately, we will be forced to close down the school at once until you do comply. All students will be dismissed and a permanent squad of Aurors will stand guard at the entrance until you surrender yourself to us."

"Closing the school?" Neville said after uncovering his ears, when Malfoy finished speaking. "Is that really necessary?"

Malfoy pulled the wand away from his throat. "Without breaking down the wall, it's the best idea I've got. Don't forget, Headmaster, you have a reason to want them out of that room, too — I assume Potter didn't tell you he was planning to go in the Room of Requirement when he showed up here yesterday."

"No," Neville had to admit. "He said he was going to show Monroe the Chamber of Secrets."

"So he betrayed your trust," Malfoy pointed out. "And you, one of his Chaos Legionaires to boot."

"Save your manipulations, Malfoy," Neville growled, but there was an uneasy expression on his face. "Harry must've had a good reason."

"That's what I'm worried about," Malfoy muttered. He turned to his men. "Dawlish, you and Goyle remain here on guard. Don't let any students or staff in this corridor until I return." Both men nodded. "Crabbe, you and I are going back to headquarters, I want you to work out a schedule to have at least two men here round the clock until further notice. I'll work out the details of the closing with the Board of Governors of the school."

"I'm coming with you," Neville announced, firmly. "I've got some things to say to the Board of Governors about that."

"Suit yourself," Malfoy shrugged. He and Crabbe walked off, followed by the Headmaster, leaving Dawlish and Goyle alone in the corridor.

=ooo=

It was several minutes before anyone spoke again in the seventh-floor corridor. Goyle had shaken his head after Malfoy and the others left, then took up a position near the wall across from the tapestry, but after a minute shook his head again and conjured a stool to sit on.

Dawlish watched this as he leaned against the same wall a short distance away, one eyebrow raised in a silent commentary. Goyle noticed this but pretended not to; he didn't care much for Dawlish, who was often overly critical of younger Aurors. When he and Crabbe had finally been admitted to Auror Training, after spending time with a private tutor who made sure they passed the requisite number of N.E.W.T.s needed during a special test session of the Examination Authority, Dawlish had been their squad instructor. Training under him had not been pleasant.

"What?" Goyle finally said, annoyed at the half-smirk on the older Auror's face.

Dawlish shook his head. "Nothing, son," he said with a shrug, but a moment later added, "I just noticed that Crabbe once again got the nod from the Head over you. That seems to happen quite a bit, doesn't it?"

"Not a big deal," Goyle said. "Vinnie's got seniority." But not by much, Goyle reminded himself.

"Well, if you're okay with it." Dawlish looked left and right down the corridor they were in. "Students will be up and about soon," he noted. "This wasn't a highly-used section of the seventh floor in my day, but there are staircases to other level accessible through this corridor — we should start getting some traffic soon."

"Well, you're the senior Auror here," Goyle pointed out. "How d'you want to handle it?"

Dawlish pointed down the corridor. "Most students will be coming from that direction," he said. "Go round the corner to the first intersection and stand guard there. Tell students this corridor is blocked until further notice. I'll do the same at the other end."

Goyle folded his arms across his chest. "The Head wanted us remain here on guard," he reminded Dawlish.

"He also said don't let any students or staff in this corridor until he returned," Dawlish countered. "We can't stay here and do that as well. Don't worry, son, I'll take full responsibility."

Goyle smirked at the older Auror's attempt at manipulation, but shrugged and walked off down the corridor in the direction Dawlish had pointed.

When Goyle rounded the corner, Dawlish pointed his wand in that direction and softly spoke two Charms — a Silencing Charm and an Anti-Wizard Charm. Goyle would not hear anything coming from this corridor; if he tried to return he would experience a compulsion to move away, just as Muggles did when they ran into a Muggle-Repelling Charm. He cast the same two charms at the other end of the corridor.

An unpleasant sensation was beginning to well up inside Dawlish. The hour was almost up, he knew — it was good he'd gotten rid of Goyle when he did, and that Malfoy and Longbottom had gone back to the Ministry. The hardest part of this mission was about to get underway.

=ooo=

"Anything yet?" Monroe finally asked, after a minute or more of silence in the Room of Requirement.

"No," Harry muttered irritably. "Stop pestering me!"

"Harry, we've got to come up with something," Monroe persisted, ignoring Harry's irritation. "We don't want Malfoy knowing we've found a way around the Interdict, and we certainly don't want him talking to these statues!"

"I know all that!" Harry snapped. "I did the same Memory Enhancing ritual you did! We memorized all the Interdicted spells in these books —" he gestured at the pile of old books on the table before them. "There ought to be something we can do to get out of here!"

"There undoubtedly is," Monroe agreed. "But we're just not seeing it."

Dozens of powerful spells were swimming around in their brains now: how to perform Permanent Transfiguration and Conjuration spells, how to summon objects from anywhere, instantly, if you knew where it was. Spells that would make you immune to almost any magical disease or illness, or allow you to extend the lifetime of a normal wizard by three or four times. Spells to cure near- and farsightedness or hearing loss, and rituals that extend those senses well beyond the limit of human ability, though those rituals would shorten your life significantly — sacrifice for gain being a necessary part of any ritual.

"Maybe they can," Harry said, pointing to the four statues of the Founders. He addressed them once again. "O Founders, can you tell us of a way to leave this room and Hogwarts without disturbing any of the wards on the castle or grounds? This is something we very much need to do."

"We Founders created this Room as a place of final refuge here at Hogwarts," the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw spoke. "Wards do not penetrate this room, nor can any scyring or detection perceive it.

"But the rest of the castle is dedicated to the will of the current Headmaster; it is protected however he or she sees fit to do so. The current headmaster has added a new protection, one that perceives the mind of any sentient being within its range, and can describe and show where that being is on a representation of the castle's construction."

Harry was dumbfounded. "You mean like a map?" he asked, in shock.

"Yes," Gryffindor's statue answered. "Similar to the one you carry in your bag of holding."

Monroe raised an eyebrow. "How did you —"

"That tricky bastard," Harry said, though he was grinning now. "Neville added a Marauder's Map to the castle security! I wonder if he got Fred and George to do that for him — they were the only ones who know what that Map could do, other than Dumbledore himself."

"Does Neville know where we are now?" Monroe asked, nervously. It wasn't clear whether he was asking Harry or the Founders.

"Maybe not," it was Harry who answered. "If you're in the Room of Requirement you're not visible on the Marauder's Map, so if he asked his version of the Map it wouldn't show either of us. I suppose the question then is, would he wonder whether we're in the Room or not?"

"Would Malfoy?" Monroe asked.

"Crap," Harry muttered. "Of course he would, if Neville told him about the new security system. Malfoy knows the Room exists, and I'm pretty sure he knows about my Marauder's Map, much as I wished he didn't."

There was a long pause.

"So," Monroe finally spoke again. "We need a way to get out of this room and out of Hogwarts without alerting the new security system or passing through any part of the school outside this room. You know, that seems like a rather simple answer: Portkey."

"No," Harry immediately objected. "We would have to Portkey entirely out of Britain — remember , the Ministry can track unauthorized Portkey use anywhere in Britain now."

"I didn't know that," Monroe said. "When did that start?"

"Lord Malfoy got it pushed through the Ministry last month," Harry replied. "Draco wrote the law, of course. They saw it as a way to hurt me, to keep me from traveling back and forth between here and Europe, looking for Interdict-protected spell books."

"I thought you already had all the Interdict-protected spell books between Britain and the Far East," Monroe said, and Harry smiled.

"Most of them," he agreed. "Malfoy has most of the rest, I'd bet — he's been scrounging them up nearly as long as I have, mostly trying to figure out what I'm doing with them."

"Interesting," Monroe said, though he didn't sound particularly interested at the moment. "But this isn't helping us figure out a way out of here. So if we can't Portkey to anywhere in Britain, what about somewhere in Europe or Scandinavia, or even America?"

Harry pondered that for a moment. It seemed like a good idea…but his newly-eidetic memory finally settled on a detail. "But we'll still have to get back into Britain, and we won't be able to use a Portkey — we'll have to come in using another mode of transportation. Brooms would take too long, and we'll be recognized if we arrange for Floo travel or Apparate through Iceland." Reykjavík was a well-known stopover between the Americas and Britain and the European and Scandinavian Wizarding communities; it was also extensively warded to protect against unauthorized wizard travel.

"It sounds like we're stuck here, then," Monroe threw up his hands. "Are Malfoy and his men still outside the room?"

"I'll check." Harry recast the powerful detection spell that let him see through the wall. "Hmm — no, there's only one person out there now, and he — no, she, is on the floor for some reason… what the hell?" Harry turned to Monroe. "Holy crap, it's Ginny!"

"Ginny?!" Monroe was as shocked as Harry. "How'd she get in here? And where are Malfoy and his men?"

Harry shook his head, still watching as Ginny picked herself off the floor and turned to the wall between them. She put her wand up to her throat and said in a magically-amplified voice, "Harry? James? Are either of you in there? Can you hear me?"

Harry put his own wand to his throat and silently cast Sonorus. "We're here, Ginny! How'd you find us?"

"How about letting me in before Malfoy or one of his men come back and find me out here?" she asked.

Harry gesture and Monroe opened the door to the Room, letting Ginny step inside. She was breathing heavily and rubbing her forehead. "Thanks," she said as she stepped past Monroe and into the room.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked her, concerned. "You look a bit pale."

"Okay," she nodded. "Just the effects of Polyjuice wearing off. I was pretending to be someone else so I could walk through the castle unnoticed."

"I saw," Harry told her. "I was watching you just a minute ago, you were in the middle of changing form."

"Oh?" Ginny looked at the wall, then back at Harry. "What, did you finally figure out how to add X-ray vision to your glasses, then?" At that moment she noticed the four statues of the Founders and fell silent.

"No, no, it's a spell from one of these books," Harry said excitedly, picking up one of the ancient leather-bound volumes. "See what we found?" He pointed to the statues she was staring at. "The Founders put some of their essence into these four statues, and they can talk to us!"

"Like Horcruxes," Ginny said quietly. "Are you sure it's a good idea, talking to them, Harry?"

"No, they aren't Horcruxes," Harry averred. "They insisted they didn't use that ritual to create these statues."

"And you believed them?" Ginny said, giving Harry a skeptical look.

"Yes, I believed them!" Harry said, indignant. "They've helped us learn a lot of new spells since we've come here. Spells from before the Interdict of Merlin! Powerful spells, a lot more powerful than the most powerful spells we have today."

"So you've found a way round the Interdict, then," Ginny said, thoughtfully. "Congratulations, Harry! I know you've been looking for that for a long time."

"James actually found them," Harry said, pointing to Monroe. "I left him here when I came to help you out at TBC yesterday."

"Oh, so you were here, then?" Ginny asked. "The Aurors came round last night after dinner, asking questions about a letter Malfoy received that suggested you were visiting the Chamber of Secrets here at Hogwarts."

"Did they?" Harry frowned, hearing that. "I only told you we were doing that, Ginny."

"I had lunch with Ron on Saturday," Ginny explained. "I may have mentioned it to him. The Auror interrogating me asked a lot of questions about Ron and the letter. I think they suspected him of writing it."

"Ron." Harry's voice was tight. "I knew he didn't like me, but I didn't think he'd stoop to informing on me."

"It looks that way," Ginny said, apologetically. "I'm sorry, Harry. I've told him some things over the past few months, but I didn't know he was giving that information to the Ministry! I don't think Ron has any proof, though, beyond what I may have told him."

"Finding proof is what Malfoy does," Harry growled. "Whether he has to make it up or not. No wonder he's been after me so hard these past few months!"

"We should get out of here, you know," Ginny said, looking at the table filled with books and the four statues of the Founders. "But it's just so amazing that you've found a way to beat the Interdict! How did you do it?"

"She's right," Monroe put in. "We should get out of here while we have the chance."

"We found out that the Founders statues can read spells from these books!" Harry said, proudly, ignoring Monroe.

"So you just show them a spell and they read it to you," Ginny surmised.

"If they can," Harry nodded. "Not all of them know every spell, but I think there were only one or two spells none of them knew."

"That's very interesting," Ginny said, looking at the books on the table. "But you couldn't have memorized them all in this short a time, could you?"

"We were lucky," Harry grinned. "One of the spells we found straightaway was a Memory-Enhancing Ritual. Monroe and I both performed it, it seemed like a quick way to memorize all the spells, and the best thing was, there was no sacrifice required for it."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "There's almost always a sacrifice during a ritual, Harry. Dark rituals require it, and most other rituals involve a sacrifice of some sort, even a small one."

"The Slytherin statue read that one to us," Monroe remembered. "He didn't say anything about a sacrifice."

Ginny picked up a book from the table and began flipping through the pages. She held out the book toward Harry. "Is that the spell he read to you?" she asked, pointing to a spell at the bottom of the page.

Harry looked. "Right," he said. "That's the one."

Ginny flipped to the next page. "What's it say at the top there?"

Harry peered at the words for several seconds. They were gibberish. "I can't read it," he said, looking up at her with a puzzled expression.

Ginny shook her head sadly. "That's probably where the sacrifice is mentioned," she said, looking at Harry with concern. "You didn't have him read the entire ritual." She walked over to the statue of Salazar Slytherin. "Read this," she commanded, pointing to the text Harry couldn't read.

There was silence for several seconds, but the Slytherin statue finally began to read.

Beware ye casters, who seek to improve thy recollection,
A price to be paid for the skillfulness of thy reflections,
Though ye shall remember all that ye have learned
Yet your wisdom shall be halved, never to be returned.

Harry and Monroe looked at each other, aghast. "Shit," Harry breathed. "That's why it's been so hard to figure out what to do!"

"Harry, I'm so sorry," Ginny said, looking as devastated as Harry felt.

"Never mind that now," Harry said, grimly. "We need to get out of here, now, before Malfoy returns and finds us here. Even if he can prove we were in the castle, we had permission to be here. And nobody can prove we were inside the Room of Requirement unless they come across the exact room we were in, and that's pretty unlikely."

"The question is, how do we do that?" Monroe asked. "If the staff's been alerted to our presence here they're not going to let us walk without trying to stop us."

"I think I have a way," Ginny said. "Harry, do you have your Cloak of Invisibility?"

"In my pouch," Harry nodded. "And the Marauder's Map. We can sneak out beneath it, is that what you're thinking?"

"Not really," Ginny disagreed. "The staff will be looking for something like that. I think we'll have to be rather bold, to do something unexpected, to get by them."

"Like what?" Both Harry and Monroe said at the same time.

"I've got some Polyjuice with me," Ginny replied, taking the bottle from her robes. "Have you noticed yet that my robes are for someone a bit larger than me?"

Harry's eyes looked Ginny up and down. "I guess they are," he said at last. "Whose clothes are they, anyway?"

"You'll see," Ginny smiled. "But first, get out your Cloak and the Map, and give the Map to me." Harry handed over the Map, waiting to hear what her plan was.

"You and Monroe get under the Cloak," Ginny ordered, and Harry threw the silvery material over himself and James. Ginny then held up the bottle of Polyjuice as if toasting them. "Cheers," she said, and downed the contents of the bottle, grimacing at the taste. "Eurgh, that's nasty," she muttered, then clutched her stomach as the potion began to take effect.

A minute later she stood transformed before them, a tall, stern-faced man with short, gray hair. Harry recognized him as an Auror, and wondered to himself how she'd gotten a bit of him for the Polyjuice. He'd have to ask her later, he decided, when they weren't in such a rush.

Ginny took out her wand and tapped the blank parchment in her hand, saying, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," in a deeper, more gruff-sounding voice than her own. Lines began forming across the parchment, showing the Marauder's Map, and the stern-faced Auror who Ginny had become studied it for several moments before folding it closed again.

"Ready?" Ginny asked the air. Harry and Monroe both nodded, then Harry realized they were invisible beneath the Cloak.

"Ready," he said aloud, and Ginny-the-male-Auror turned and opened the door, leading them out into the corridor.

=ooo=

Eileen Weatherly, the fifth year Hufflepuff prefect guarding the third floor area near the staircase leading down to the second floor, stifled a tired yawn. She hadn't gotten much sleep this night, between the alarm that had sounded earlier, just after midnight, and arrival of the team of Aurors not long ago that had prompted the Headmaster to put all the prefects and staff on alert.

But the idea that she might come across Harry Potter was exciting. She might not have a chance against him directly, but she could call the entire faculty down on him if need be — it was doubtful even Harry Potter himself could prevail against every teacher in the school. She only had to hope that the old caretaker, Filch, wouldn't be the first one to show up, or they were in deep dragon dung.

Bored, she conjured a bit of parchment and wrote a quick note on it with the tip of her wand. Hey Jimmy (her fellow prefect, James Brandson) see any sign of Potter yet? I bet I catch him before you do! Smiling, she tapped the parchment with her wand, and it folded itself into a bird-shape, then flew off to where Brandson was patrolling. That should work him up a bit, she thought. She and Jimmy were very good friends as well as prefects, but there was also a bit of Ravenclaw competitiveness in them — both had learned that the Sorting Hat had offered them Ravenclaw as well as Hufflepuff, but they had each preferred the friendliness of Helga Hufflepuff's House to the intellectual in-fighting of the House of Ravenclaw.

A sound reached her from the still dimly-lit corridor where she'd just sent the paper bird to Jimmy; it was past dawn by now but the sun still wasn't high enough in the sky to light the halls of the school adequately. "Who's there?" Eileen asked, raising her wand as Lumos-generated light shone from it.

"John Dawlish, Ministry Auror," a gruff voice replied, and a tall, gray-haired man stepped into the light of her wand. "And who are you, young lady?" he asked, stopping several feet from her, his wand at his side but ready to use, Weatherly noticed.

"I'm Eileen Weatherly," she said, a bit awed by the man's presence. "I—I thought the Aurors had left the school."

"The Head did," the man replied, his voice rough. "We're still trying to find Potter and his accomplice, James Monroe. Have you seen any sign of either of them?" he asked in an authoritative tone.

"Um, no," Eileen replied quickly. "I mean, no, sir," she added, remembering to address adults respectfully.

And then she saw something that made her flinch with horror. A small paper bird was fly toward her — Jimmy had replied to her not, but what a hell of a time for it to happen! The bird had almost reached the Auror when he turned suddenly, pointing his wand at the magical note. It stopped in mid-air, then fluttered into his hand. He tapped it with his wand; it unfolded and he began reading it.

Eileen wished she could crawl away and died. "My — er, my fellow prefect and I sometimes keep in touch that way, whenever we're separated," she said, uncomfortably, wishing she could vanish the parchment from the Auror's hand.

A small smile passed across the man's stern features. "It's alright, Miss, I'm not going to report you to the Headmaster. But stay ready and be prepared to react instantly if you see anything out of the ordinary." He took out a large piece of parchment that had been hidden within his robes. "I'm going outside the grounds so I can call in my notes to the Head, but I'll be back in a while. Stay vigilant," he finished, throwing her a salute.

Eileen, beaming, saluted in reply, and the tall Auror nodded and moved past her, down the staircase and out of sight in the dimness of the second floor. She continued beaming, hoping she could spend a few moments with him when he returned. Maybe she should look into being an Auror herself, she thought excitedly.

Outside the gates of Hogwarts, which had been unlocked by Hagrid before going inside the castle for breakfast, Harry, Monroe and Ginny quietly considered their next move. "Now what?" Harry asked, his and Monroe's heads peeking out from the Invisibility Cloak.

"Well, you can't go home, that's for sure," the form of John Dawlish said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Malfoy will have a warrant to search your home by now, I suspect."

"I wish I could talk to Hermione," Harry muttered. "She'd know what we should do."

"Don't be an idiot," Ginny-Dawlish laughed scornfully. "You don't want to get her mixed up in this fiasco. We're — you're going to need all the help she can give you as Minister of Magic."

"Oh, yeah," Harry agreed, embarrassed he hadn't thought of that.

"What are we going to do about the effects of that ritual?" Monroe wanted to know.

"Dunno," Ginny shrugged. "The book said it wasn't reversible, didn't it?"

"Yeah," Harry moaned. "It did. But maybe there's another ritual we can use to negate the effects of the Memory Enhancing ritual."

"Maybe," Ginny agreed. "But it's liable to be one of those Interdict-protected spells in one of your books, Harry."

Harry rubbed his head in frustration. "I wish I'd never seen that damned spell!" he cried out.

"Quiet!" Monroe tried to hush him. "We don't need anyone hearing us and coming to investigate!"

"I have a place you can stay," Ginny offered. "It's a small apartment in South London — I rented it a few months ago so I could spend a night away from Dean from time to time. Nobody knows about it but me — and now, you."

"Good idea," Harry said, gratefully. "Thanks."

Ginny smiled warmly at Harry. "Well, let's see what you think of this one, then. What if I go to your apartment and collect those spell books of yours, then sneak back into Hogwarts and have those statues read them to me? I can look for a spell to remove that Memory-Enhancing ritual from you and Monroe, and then I can teach the important spells I learn to you two. It'll be slower without the memory ritual, but at least you'd have your intelligence back."

Harry looked at Monroe. "What do you think?"

"It sounds good to me," Monroe agreed. "If there's any way to get our original intelligence back, I'm all for it!"

"That's settled, then!" Ginny said, happily. "Now just let me get under the Cloak with you two —" there was a few seconds of fumbling about as the tall, male figure slipped between Harry and Monroe. The figure of John Dawlish tapped himself with his wand, saying "Finite Bibotatem!" then doubled over, falling to the ground on his knees and transforming into Ginny Weasley once again. Harry and Monroe helped her to her feet, and she slipped her arms into theirs.

"Ready?" she asked. "On three, then." Three seconds later they were gone.